Ice delayed a plan to resume blasting Monday at a McCook quarry where an earthquake followed a blast in the fall, a Lehigh Hanson spokesman said. The company, which owns Hanson Material Service Quarry, had suspended blasting after a Nov. 4 earthquake occurred seconds after a routine blast, spokesman Jeff Sieg said. But after ice stopped drills today, the company planned to try again Tuesday afternoon, Sieg said. The United States Geological Survey has not confirmed a...

Meade Electric Co. will move its headquarters from McCook to Chicago, another in a string of companies that have left the suburbs in recent years. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Meade officials announced the move Friday morning at the new site near Midway Airport, which used to be the home of cardboard box factory until 2012. Meade purchased the building and the 10-acre site from International Paper. The purchase price wasn't immediately available. Meade, one of the area's...

The police chief of west suburban McCook will serve a three-day suspension following an incident last month in which he appeared to be intoxicated after driving his van into a rail yard in neighboring Bedford Park, authorities said. Frank Wolfe was found standing next to the van in the rail yard by Bedford Park police, who had been called to the scene by CSX railroad security officials, according to Bedford Park police Chief Daniel Godfrey. "He was believed to be intoxicated," Godfrey said.

Living next to a McCook quarry for nearly four decades, La Grange resident Linda Lauterbach has grown accustomed to the periodic blasts. Now she's getting used to the occasional earthquake. Lehigh Hanson, the company that owns the quarry, announced it plans to resume blasting Monday. The company had suspended blasting after a magnitude-3.2 earthquake occurred seven seconds after a routine blast Nov. 4. "I seriously would think that there will be another similar incident in a couple...

Nobody was injured during a fire and explosion tonight at business in west suburban McCook, authorities said. The extent of damage to the building at 4828 S. Lawndale Ave. was not immediately known, according to police Chief Frank Wolfe. People who were inside at 8:15 p.m. when it happened were evacuated and none was injured, Wolfe said. “We're not sure what the cause and origin is," according to Wolfe, who added he was waiting for further details to come from...

By Kevin Coyne and Clifford Ward and Special to the Tribune | March 19, 2014

An electrical aggregation referendum in Palos Township Tuesday and a referendum in the Village of McCook asking voters to disband the fire department ended in tie votes Tuesday, according to unofficial returns. Cook County election officials have until April 1 to count ballots by mail. The referendums lose if the votes ultimately end in a tie. The electrical aggregation referendum would allow Palos Township to seek competitive pricing bids for electricity services and enter into a contract...

Ice delayed a plan to resume blasting Monday at a McCook quarry where an earthquake followed a blast in the fall, a Lehigh Hanson spokesman said. The company, which owns Hanson Material Service Quarry, had suspended blasting after a Nov. 4 earthquake occurred seconds after a routine blast, spokesman Jeff Sieg said. But after ice stopped drills today, the company planned to try again Tuesday afternoon, Sieg said. The United States Geological Survey has not confirmed a...

By Matthew Walberg and Joseph Ruzich and Chicago Tribune | November 6, 2013

A blast at a quarry in suburban McCook was well within safety limits, according to state officials who said Wednesday they cannot explain a subsequent tremor seconds later that rattled windows and frazzled nerves throughout the Chicago area. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources sent an inspector to the Hanson Material Corp.'s quarry after the U.S. Geological Survey reported a seismic event occurred Monday in the area. A two-day inspection of the site and a...

A Palos Hills man is awaiting charges after police say he stabbed his wife repeatedly before turning the knife on his daughter who stepped in to help stop him. Police say the 50-year-old suspect stabbed the women this morning before fleeing in a blue Volkswagen Jetta around 10 a.m. The victims fled to a neighbor's house and were taken to a local hospital. The daughter, 20, who suffered a stab wound to the chest, told police her dad could have gone to the parking lot of a trucking...

General Motors Corp.'s locomotive group, based in southwest suburban McCook, has signed a five-year, $100 million contract with Computer Sciences Corp. for information technology services. The work previously had been done by Electronic Data Systems Corp., which had been a GM unit, under a 10-year pact.

A blast at a quarry in suburban McCook was well within safety limits, according to state officials who said Wednesday they cannot explain a subsequent tremor seconds later that rattled windows and frazzled nerves throughout the Chicago area. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources sent an inspector to the Hanson Material Corp.'s quarry after the U.S. Geological Survey reported a seismic event occurred Monday in the area. A two-day inspection of the site and a...

McCook police on Tuesday were investigating the slaying of a Chicago man who was found dead Monday in a motel in the western suburb, police said. Gerald Kennedy, 70, suffered blunt head trauma and died sometime between 11:45 a.m. and 2:45 p.m., said McCook police and a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office. His body was found in a room of the Skyline Motel, 8136 Joliet Rd., just 3 miles west of his home in the 5800 block of South Newland Avenue on the city's Southwest...

A construction material company acknowledged that it was blasting at its quarry in McCook on Monday, but officials deny the activity caused a tremor that sent shock waves through the western suburbs and caused some minor damage. Jeff Sieg, a spokesman for Lehigh Hanson Inc., said Tuesday that the company did a routine blast at 12:35 p.m. well below regulatory limits. He added that a separate seismic event occurred about seven seconds after the blast. "It is baffling to us,"...

The scandal-plagued licensing facility at the center of a corruption case that has swirled around Gov. George Ryan since his 1998 gubernatorial campaign closed its doors Wednesday. Secretary of State Jesse White, the Democrat who succeeded Ryan as the official responsible for licensing Illinois motorists, said he was closing the McCook truck-testing center for several reasons, with symbolism near the top of the list. "Let it be a part of history," White said Wednesday of...

People in the western suburbs who felt the earth move Monday weren't imagining it. But the cause remains a mystery. The U.S. Geological Survey assigned the tremor that occurred about 12:35 p.m. near Countryside a preliminary magnitude of 3.7. Soon after, they downgraded the tremor to 3.2 and said it wasn't an earthquake, but likely was caused by work at a nearby quarry. "Based on what they've looked at, we're pretty sure it's from a blast," said Paul Caruso, a geophysicist...

Reynolds Metals Co. said Monday it will cut 800 jobs at its aluminum sheet and plate plant in west suburban McCook by the end of April as part of a restructuring plan that will lead to after-tax charges of up to $225 million. The job reductions will affect 67 percent of the plant's 1,200 employees, Reynolds said. Richmond, Va.-based Reynolds said it is phasing out mostly alloy sheet products at the McCook plant, which is near LaGrange. The plant will continue to...